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Meet Katherine Kouvelas-Edick of Aris Foundation, Inc. in Tempe, Gilbert, East Valley

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Kouvelas-Edick.

Katherine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started volunteering at an organization called Tumbleweed in 2011 at their Tempe location. Tumbleweed was a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless young adults 18 -25 years old.

From the moment I entered the building, I knew this was where I was meant to be. The “kids” were amazing! So many of them had been raised in complete hardship, but they were bright and articulate, joyful at times, angry at others. They weren’t really used to people taking an interest in them. On the streets, people don’t give freely and if they’re asking you questions, they’re typically after something. They looked at me funny when I went to shake their hands and asked them their names. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a new kid come in and saw her looking through the clothing donations. She was so incredibly grateful just to find a pair of jeans that fit her. She didn’t care that they were old or ripped, but the fact that they were hers. The clients there would get a certain amount of clothing every month and shoes when they were available.

I was the GED tutor during those early days and I went in every week trying to get students to study with me. I soon found out that when you’re sleeping under a bush and searching for your next meal in the dumpster, studying for your GED falls low on the priority list. So, I did what any desperate tutor would do, I bribed them with baked goods! If they showed up for my tutoring sessions I would make them whatever they wanted: baklava, chocolate chip cooks, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, the list went on and on. And they showed up! I ended up having one of my kids pass the test! His name was Lenny and he was killed this year on the streets of Miami.

In 2016, Tumbleweed declared bankruptcy and my heart was broken for my kids. They were still out there and now they didn’t have a safe place to be. I started asking co-workers and friends for clothing donations. I’d load up the back of my van and go out to Tempe to distribute. I’d bring water, snack packs, hygiene items – whatever they could use. And I found them. And that’s when Aris was born.

One day, when I was talking to my Mom, she told me that instead of searching for them, I should pick a place and make it consistent. She asked me what they needed and I replied “laundry”. So, Tuesday nights at the laundromat was born. Every Tuesday, I would beg (and bribe) my kids to come to the laundromat. I’d buy McDonald’s Hot n Spicy sandwiches and would pay for them to wash their clothes while they looked through the stash I had in my van. We started with two kids. Today, we serve 150 people every Tuesday night.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Part of me wants to say that it’s been a struggle, but then when I think back, every struggle has found its own resolution.

Finances: Every time I get low on funds, my Mom says, “Give away more!” So, I do and then we magically get a donation that gets us through.

Volunteers: About six months after “Tuesdays in Tempe” started, I spoke at a local church that offered to put together hygiene packs for us. And that’s where I found my first volunteer, PJ. She literally came up to me crying at the end of the presentation and said, “This is the reason I came tonight!” So, PJ and I started going out to the laundromat together on Tuesdays. Then, Jason joined the mix and Karen and Summerr and Jack and Nick and Amber and, and, and… we typically have 20-25 volunteers each week. Some are regulars. Some come just a few times each year. Both are AMAZING!!!

Community Relations: It’s not easy gathering 150 homeless adults in a park each week without some sort of backlash from the community. There was understandably some concern about safety and of the litter left behind when we leave.

Safety: I am proud to say that the kids who come out week after week understand “the rules”. There are absolutely no drugs. There is no fighting. Everyone is respectful and grateful to all volunteers. On occasion, you’ll hear someone say to another “Not here! We don’t pull that crap on Tuesdays!” And I smile. We also recently had the G4S Security team join us on Tuesdays. Some people were concerned that having security at our event would frighten the kids off, but the G4S team is AWESOME! They interact with our kids and volunteers.

They have even approached me for information on resources to provide during the week. We have also worked with the Tempe Police Department – providing them with new socks to distribute if they happen to come across someone in need on their routes.

Litter: The Aris volunteers all pitch in to clean up the park at the end of our event. And the kids actually pitch in as well! The park is typically cleaner when we leave than when get there!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Aris Foundation, Inc. – what should we know?
Aris Foundation, Inc. was founded in 2016 to meet the need of homeless young adults in Tempe. Since that time, we have expanded our reach. We will serve anyone in need who comes to us on Tuesdays. Sometimes, we find “food insecure” families going through our line with young children. We make sure to meet with them separately to see if there are special needs they may have (children’s clothing, school supplies).

I am extraordinarily proud that Aris is 100% volunteer-run. We have NO SALARIES and very little administrative costs. All administrative costs (storage unit, website, email addresses) are covered by our core team of volunteers, who are also financial contributors. So, 100% of all donations that come in from the community go directly to our kids.

I am also proud that we are recognized as a Qualifying Charitable Organization (QCO) by the state of Arizona. So, all donations up to $400 single/$800 couple are an Arizona Tax Credit! You are basically just guiding your taxes to the organization of your choice.

One thing that sets us apart (not necessarily in a good or bad way) is that we are non-denominational. We do not preach religion to our kids in any way. They get served by a lot of wonderful churches so they have the opportunity to talk about religion at various times throughout the week, but not from us.

We are always looking for volunteers who want to serve with us!
Dinner: Each week, we provide 150 people with a full dinner, waters/Gatorades, desserts. Different organizations prepare and serve dinner each week. Because we serve from a park, all meals need to be prepared in advance and brought out. (Please contact Summerr at [email protected] for more details.)
Hygiene Items: We distribute hygiene items to all our clients – travel shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, etc.
Clothing: We are always looking for donated clothing so clean out those closets!
Dog Supplies: We have man furry clients, too! We are always looking for dog food, leashes, booties, collars, etc.
Snacks: If we don’t feed them, they’ll be searching through dumpsters for their next meal. A donated box of snack items goes so far!
Socks and boxer-briefs: Socks and boxer-briefs are like gold on the streets.

We love our Scouts! We get quite a few inquiries about Scout projects. Our Gold Award Candidate, Jacey, collected nearly 3,000 pounds of dog food and arranged for a vet to come out quarterly to provide care for our animals (shots, exams, etc.) And our Eagle Scout Alex, collected enough snacks to put together 450 snack packs and then came out to distribute them!

One client once told me, “Tuesdays are more like an office party than a handout.” (BTW, he is 140 days clean and sober right now – yay, David!)

I would also like to share that we now have over 65 clients who are clean and sober and off the streets. Not all days are good days for them, but we are there to support them on this journey no matter what! I love the before-after pictures of our kids. And it brings me joy that so many of them come back to volunteer once they’re sober. They feel the need to give back and I love that!!! It’s the connection to the community, to someone who loves them, that helps them on their journey. No one should ever feel alone.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Early on, I believed that our goal as an organization was to help everyone off the streets… I was wrong.
Our goal is just to “love them where they’re at”. If that’s bringing someone food while they face their demons living under a bridge, that’s okay. If that’s providing someone with a bus pass so they can begin job searching for the first time in years, so be it. If it’s getting someone into a rehabilitation program, where they are sober for the first time since their childhood, all the better. We cannot make anyone be ready to get off the streets, but we can be ready to help them when they make the decision they want something different. We just “love them where they’re at.”

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
The first photo of Ericka – credit to Brian Cahill

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